


fallen queens (& the saviors who help them when they're drunk)

by aybay



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, F/F, no mention of the one-handed wonder and only a slight reference to forest boy, pretty much entirely revolving around alcohol, ruby is still a deputy, set at the end of season 5 but not everything is canon with the show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-14 14:26:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7175591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aybay/pseuds/aybay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Regina's never been known for her healthy coping and Emma's called to deal with the aftermath of a long night at The Rabbit Hole.<br/>All fluff. Minimal plot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	fallen queens (& the saviors who help them when they're drunk)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fluffy one-shot that came to mind after a recent picture of Lana. 
> 
> I don't own anything and am even less concerned about timeline than A&E.
> 
> All reviews are appreciated!

Emma Swan used to love the song _Bad to the Bone._ It was badass and catchy and just a damn good song. Ever since she made it her ringtone for the sheriff’s station, however, she’s grown to loath the chords of the guitar solo and inwardly groans when she hears pretty much any classic rock. This 2 am call is no different.

 

Sliding her finger across the screen, the blonde sat up in bed, eyes still closed as she spoke. “’Sup Rubes?” her voice husky with sleep.

 

“Hey, Em, I’m really sorry to call on your off night, but there’s a slight disturbance at The Rabbit Hole and I think you should be the one to check it out.”

 

“Ruby, just cuff Leroy and let him sleep it off in the station. It’s not a big deal.” Emma groaned, dropping her face to her hand.

 

“Yeah, no, Emma, this isn’t Leroy. I really think you should come down.” Ruby’s tone left little room for the blonde to argue.

 

“Alright, I’ll be down in a few.” The sheriff threw off her comforter and wriggled into her skinny jeans as she hung up, squeezing her eyes in effort to wake up. This couldn’t be good.

 

-

 

As Emma approached the rundown building that housed Storybrooke’s only bar, the usual thump of music was gone and the lights inside were all off.

 

“Ruby, what the fuck kind of disturbance could be happening at an empty bar?” Emma grumbled to herself, peeking into a large window. She wandered around the front of the building before noticing someone slumped by the door.

 

“Well, if it isn’t the Savior,” the voice slurred, “Come to rescue the fallen Queen?”

 

“Oh my God, Regina.” Emma’s voice came out weak as her stomach dropped. She knelt next to the brunette and lifted her chin. “What happened?”

 

The former mayor rolled her eyes as the blonde’s searched in them for some clue as to the brunette’s current state. “Whatever villager I cursed to run this hellhole took my keys. Can’t drive home.” Regina pulled her face away from Emma’s hand and dropped it to rest on her own shoulder.

 

“Regina, I-“

 

“I know what you meant, Miss Swan.” Regina said, spitting the formality as if it pained her to say it. “But you’re the last person I want to see right now, so forgive me for not pouring my heart out to you.”

 

On any other day, in any other situation, Emma would be devastated by the brunette’s cold words. Tonight, though, she noticed Regina’s exhaustion, and how the insults seemed to drain her even more. Her heart clenched.

 

“Please just go, Emma.” Her voice broke on the blonde’s name, and Emma’s heart followed suit.

 

Emma stayed, crouching next to Regina, watching both their breaths dissipate in the harsh Maine cold. The brunette woman refused to hold her eye contact, but didn’t push Emma to leave.

 

“Nope.” She finally whispered, plopping down next to the older woman. “I’m not leaving this spot until you either tell me what’s up or agree to let me drive you home. Up to you, R’gina.”

 

Another silence fell between the two women as Regina weighed her options.

 

“Emma, I-“ the brunette began, faltering.

 

“Hey, it’s okay. What is it?” The blonde felt her hand reach to rest on Regina’s shoulder. To her surprise, Regina’s body shifted into the touch.

 

“I can’t exactly stand on my own right now,” she finally confessed. “Could you, um, could you help me up?” Her usual confidence replaced with mild embarrassment.

 

“Regina, are y-“ she stopped herself from questioning the other woman’s choice. “Of course.” The blonde said, moving her hand down to the older woman’s elbow to help her stand.

 

The brunette wobbled and Emma put her arm around the woman’s waist to hold her upright. Regina’s body went rigid with the contact, so the blonde settled her hand on her other arm.

 

“Emma?” brown eyes met green, more vulnerability in them than Emma had ever found there.

 

“Yeah?” the blonde responded as gently as she could, figuring that whatever was on the older woman’s mind should be treated with care.

 

“Please don’t drop me.”

 

Emma allowed a small smile. “Wouldn’t dream of it, your majesty.”

 

-

 

Getting Regina into the passenger seat of her bug had been nothing short of a challenge, with Regina losing her balance with each attempt to slide into the seat. So when the brunette mumbled something about “laying down” and “backseat,” after finally making it in, Emma couldn’t help but let out an annoyed groan.

 

“The seat reclines. That’s the best you’re getting.” Emma said, shutting the passenger door a tad more aggressively than necessary.

 

By the time the blonde made it around to her side of the car and opened the door, the passenger seat was leaned as far as it would go and Regina laid on her side looking up at the sheriff.

 

She smiled sleepily, her earlier anger dissipated leaving a seemingly carefree Regina. Emma had never seen the once Evil Queen with such lowered inhibitions. She smiled back, turning the key already in the ignition.

 

Lowering the radio to allow to allow the heavily intoxicated woman some rest, Emma pulled away from the curb and headed toward the all-too-familiar route to Mifflin street.

 

A comfortable silence filled the car and, assuming her passenger had dozed off, Emma finally allowed herself to let out the sigh she’d been holding in before she took a quick glance to seat next to her. Seeing Regina already looking up at her surprised the blonde, who quickly averted her attention back to the road.

 

“Thought you were asleep,” Emma said, breaking the quiet.

 

When Regina didn’t respond, the sheriff assumed the brunette was done talking to her for the night. A few minutes passed, the silence less comforting now.

 

“I miss him.”

 

Emma almost missed the whisper over the sound of her engine. She looked down to see a single tear fall from Regina’s closed eyes, and without the right words to comfort the brunette, she reached to grasp the hand resting against the console.

 

“I know,” she whispered even more quietly, squeezing the fingers between hers.

 

-

 

Regina is asleep by the time they make it to 108. Emma gently whispers her name and shakes the brunette’s shoulder, but she doesn’t even budge.

 

She grumbles something about “can’t believe I’m doing this,” before sliding one arm underneath Regina’s knees and one against the small of her back. She carefully extricates the sleeping woman from the car and gently kicks the door shut behind her. Despite the impression the former mayor prefers to give, she’s small-framed and Emma has no trouble carrying her to the door.

 

Realizing she hadn’t thought this part through, Emma stares at the door and then down to the sleeping woman in her arms. She attempts to unlock and open the door with her magic, squeezing her eyes tight and concentrating on the lock.

 

She’s a bit surprised when it actually works and the door inches open.

 

“All about the tumblers,” she whispers to herself.

 

She carries the brunette up the stairs and stops at the door Emma knows leads to Regina’s room. She’s never been inside and she’s unsure how Regina would feel about her being there. Without much of a choice, she pushes it open with the toe of her boot.

 

With the woman in her arms still sound asleep, Emma gently lays her down on top of the comforter. Looking around, she sees an extra blanket haphazardly strewn across an armchair, and covers Regina’s frame with it, pushing brown locks behind an ear.

 

After checking that the brunette is sleeping soundly on her side, she slips out of the room in search of aspirin to leave for the inevitable headache she assumes the woman will have in a few hours.

 

Finally finding a bottle of pills in the downstairs bathroom, Emma knocks a few into her hand and grabs the glass of water she’d poured, making her way back up the staircase.

 

When she nudges the brunette’s door open, Emma is instantly filled with dread as she sees both Regina and the blanket she’d covered her with gone. The feeling is short-lived as she notices light flooding from the en suite followed by a retching sound from the same direction.

 

She smiles in spite of herself. _Proof of imperfection,_ she thinks.

 

She sets the aspirin on Regina’s side table and makes her way to the bathroom door, resting her head against the frame, not wanting to startle the out-of-sorts brunette.

 

“Hey,” she calls softly, “brought you some water.” She lifts the glass to show Regina as another surge goes through the brunette, who throws her chin to rest on the toilet bowl.

 

Emma rushes to the woman’s side, brushing hair out of her face and rubbing soothing circles against her back.

 

“Miss Swan,” Regina starts before spitting something into the porcelain bowl, “you shouldn’t- I mean, you don’t have to- you can go.” The brunette settles her forehead into her hand, rocking against it.

 

“Not gonna happen, Regina. I’ll be right here until you force me to leave,” she says, smiling though Regina’s back is to her.

 

She hears a small ‘thank you’ before Regina’s head is back over the bowl.

 

-

 

It’s another half hour before Regina’s ready to leave the cold bathroom floor. She reluctantly allows Emma to help her stand, though she didn’t really have much choice in the matter. With her arm around Emma’s shoulders, the blonde leads a shaking brunette back to the comfort of her bed, sliding her covers back for the woman to slide in to.

 

“You wanna talk about it?” Emma asks as she flicks on the bedside lamp and sits next to the curled up woman.

 

“I don’t think so,” the brunette’s voice doesn’t hold its usual hardness and Emma’s heart softens as she sees the older woman stifle a yawn. “Not tonight- not yet, anyway.”

 

Emma nods. “Let me know when you do, okay? I’ll be there. Just say the word. Whatever you need.”

 

“Thank you, I-. Thank you.” Regina’s voice is thick with exhaustion. Emma pulls the comforter higher over her shoulder.

 

“Good night, Regina,” Emma whispers as she stands and turns off the lamp.

 

“Emma?” Regina’s voice is smaller than Emma’s ever heard it.

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Would you- I mean, you don’t have to but- could you stay? I think I’d like it if you stayed.” Her eyes met the blonde’s, and amidst all of the uncertainties Emma saw floating there, she saw something else, too. Something she couldn’t quite name, but wanted to someday.

 

“Of course.”

 

-

 

When Emma awoke the next morning, with brown hair tickling her nose, warm breath on her neck, and an uncertainty of which limbs were hers, she knew she’d always stay.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm an idiot and totally switched verb tenses like halfway through (also also randomly.) I'll edit sometime this week.
> 
> Again, reviews would be wonderful and I'll love you forever.
> 
> You can also follow my shenanigans on Tumblr, if you want; I'm niehaushelena.


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